Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

PUCHITA (NAP) (best price 5-2) was the first leg of an Anthony Brittain double here the other night, so we know the stable is in form, and with that all-important recent run on this surface under her belt, she rates a confident vote to repeat the dose in this similar contest.

Niggled along and unable to go the pace in the early stages, the daughter of Acclamation worked herself into a reasonable position turning for home and then with a relentless surge all the way down the straight, she gradually reeled in the well-backed favourite Brenner Pass in the shadows of the post. By no means her fastest ever speed figure at the Midland venue, it was still a decent enough number to suggest she’s not far off his best and with her record over tonight’s C&D now standing at 21111, it makes little sense to oppose this in-form five-year-old on her return visit.

The recent form figures for TYNECASTLE PARK (best price 8-1) and GOING NATIVE (best price 25-1) don’t make for pretty reading, but to be fair to both, neither are that proficient on the turf, whereas it’s a totally different ball game when it comes to this surface.

The former hasn’t run too deplorably on his two latest outings at York and Newmarket respectively and you get the impression they have just a precursor to what’s in store now that he returns to his happy hunting ground. Indeed, Robert Eddery’s gelding has simply stunning track stats of 22122112121 when racing over 1m6f or beyond here and now likely to be somewhere near peak fitness following those two blowouts, there’s no reason to believe he will let down his supporters back on the fibresand he so loves.

Similarly, the latter hasn’t exactly set the pulses racing in two starts since racing resumed, but she also knows the Colwick Park venue like the back of her hand and, as a consequence, she has to enter the mix in anyone’s money. A winner of her last three starts on the fibresand, if you are prepared to waver the disqualification on the first of that sequence, the daughter of Speightstown is clearly well-suited by a stamina test, and based on some of her better speed figures she should easily be capable of holding her own against tonight’s slightly stronger company that she’s been used too of late. Therefore, at 25-1, Olly Williams’ mare has to be worth a small interest.